KENNY, SISTER ELIZABETH

Nurse (1886-1952)

Sister Kenny was a nurse who dedicated much of her life to the treatment
of polio victims. She was born in New South Wales,
Australia, trained as a vocational nurse, worked in Australia for many years,
and eventually moved to the United States in 1940. In 1946 a movie was made
of her life. In 1952 she was voted the most admirable woman in the United States.

Polio is a devasting disease that reached world wide epidemic proportions
in the early 20th century. With
the discovery of the polio vaccines in the 1950's and 1960's
the disease is near eradication. It still exists, however, especially
in places that have limited access to the vaccines.
Sister Kenny died two years prior to the discovey of the polio vaccine.
There is a great deal of information about her on the web. In addition,
she wrote an autobiography in 1943, entitled And They shall walk, Mead
and Co, New York, 1943.
A search on almost any search engine will pull up many references to her and her
work with polio victims. A few are